Thursday, March 29, 2012

Happy Birthday to Marina Sirtis, 58. I think it's fair to say that almost none of the problems with Troi were her fault, at least as far as I know -- it would be like blaming the shuttles on Kirk's Enterprise for no one remembering they exist whenever the transporter is out. Or something like that. And, really, the Worf-Troi semi-romance was one of the worst ideas ever. But again, not fair to blame Sirtis.

Never mind; I should get to the good stuff.

1. Ezra Klein interviews Yale's Akhil Reed Amar about broccoli tyranny. Not exactly the same case that I made yesterday, but I think reasonably parallel to it. Recommended.

2. I might as well link to someone who sees these issues completely differently, in this case Conor Friedersdorf. I think, as you can tell from my post linked above, that he's totally and completely wrong. But he's a smart guy, and worth reading even when he's (in my view at least) off-base.

3. Matt Corley at the American Prospect has a very nice piece on voter ignorance.

Friedersdorf argues that there has been a "radical expansion of the federal government and an attendant loss of local control and liberty." His examples are undeclared wars, warrantless search and seizures, extrajudicial executions, and mandatory health insurance. Am I the only one who, when confronted with this list, wonders why health insurance was the one they attacked as fundamentally changing the relationship between government and citizen?

I like reading Friedersdorf to try and keep me honest. He's kind of my anti-confirmation bias writer. Even so, I let it be known in his comments section that I pretty fundamentally disagree with how he views the constitution. Basically, I'm not sure how Conor would address someone like the ghost of Alexander Hamilton and his interpretations of the document he helped craft.